Album Review: Rough Justice – “Faith in Vain” (Metallic Hardcore)

Written by Ellis

Looks like UK hardcore is in for another great year already. This debut LP from Sheffield bruisers Rough Justice arrives the same day as a fantastic new one from Essex’s Splitknuckle, there’s a new EP from Brighton’s No Relief coming next month, and all fingers crossed that we get those long overdue full-lengths from Demonstration of Power and Despize (both Glasgow) at some point this year too. But, to get to the matter at hand, Faith in Vain is an absolute crusher and if it’s the first UKHC release you hear in 2024 then you’ve picked a wonderful place to start.

Though this is their debut LP, Rough Justice have actually been around a fair while now – to the point that versions of three of the tracks on Faith in Vain have their roots as far back as the band’s 2012 Mind’s Eye EP, and in one case even the demo before that. The notes provided for this record explain that the band came together through a shared love of Wilkes-Barre heavy hitters Bad Seed and Dead End Path, which is probably enough of a selling point for some, but if you need something a little more 2024 you may be even more convinced by their links to the almighty Malevolence (namely that drummer Josh Baines is better known as a founding member and guitarist of that band and that Faith in Vain was demoed in their rehearsal space and is being released on their MLVLTD label).

All this is a roundabout way of saying that Faith in Vain is a big, beefy, groove-heavy metallic hardcore record. It’s got riffs on riffs on riffs and it asks for less than 25 minutes of your time, although really you’ll probably find yourself wanting to spin it at least twice every time as once feels far too fleeting. Producer Jim Pinder has more credits for engineering than mixing on his CV at the moment but he did absolutely nail the last Malevolence LP and his work behind the desk here is just as strong; chunky low-end, punchy drums, pinging snare, thick guitar tones – all the boxes ticked as needed and in turn laying a sturdy foundation for vocalist James Tippett to come through nice and clear as he barks and shouts about stuff like fear and guilt and religion and putting your money where your mouth is.

The band come in fully cocked with the album’s opener “Cowards”, a bit of guitar chugging and tom work building into a big aggro banger that features at least two gargantuan breakdowns. Following track “Overruled” doubles down on much the same, brought in by the always rad shout of one’s own band name, but as the record evolves it becomes apparent that one thing Rough Justice have really nailed here is structure – particularly in the first half anyway. The album’s title track comes next and goes for something a bit more melodic, with an anthemic bellowed chorus making it easy to see why this one was chosen as a single, while following track “Rusting” provides something of a moment of respite built around a lonely, moody guitar with some piano and birdsong in the background.

Obviously Rough Justice are hardly the first hardcore band to work out that a bit of variation can go a long way to making sure your album hits all the way through, but that doesn’t make it any less true and it proves pretty much all they need even as the second half of the record does stick a little more to just throwing out solid hardcore ragers. Rounding things out is a final pair of highlights in lead single “Backwards Mask” and the swaggering closer “Mind’s Eye” which seem to save two of the album’s most shitkicking breakdowns for the very end and in turn ensure that the band cross the finish line with their ability to knock the wind right out of you undiminished by any amount of elapsed time.

THE BOTTOM LINE

As mentioned, this is the kind of record you can just keep spinning over and over. Hard but relatively accessible modern metallic hardcore that doesn’t waste anyone’s time and if anything feels even shorter and tighter than it already is. Rough Justice are sure to do big things here in the UK this year, but hopefully it doesn’t just stop there as with material like this they could definitely follow in the footsteps of their friends in Malevolence and take UKHC to audiences all over the world.